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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/scatteredleavescOObard 



IttlllllilllilMIHM 



A COLLECTION of POEMS 

By 

ANDREAS BARD 




Published for the Author 

1914 

THE GERMAN LITERARY BOARD 
BURLINGTON, IOWA 

iiiiiiiiiS 



k 



Copyright 1914 

By ANDREAS BARD 

Kansas City, Mo. 




S-CLASTCSTO 



'^^f 



CONTENTS 



Dedication, 

The Stoic, 

A Prayer, 

Hugo's Esmeralda, 

Defiance, 

Like a Flower, . 

Symbols, 

Like the Rosebud, 

Everywhere, 

The Advent of Spring, 

Oriental Serenade, 

Boundless, 

Life, ... 

Visions, 

The Acorn, . 

Tolstoy, 

Excelsior, 

The Fadeless Flower, 

Sonnenschein, 

Crossing the Bar, 

Resignation, . 

The Song of Love, 

Too Late, 

William McKinley, 

Shepherd's Sabbath Song, 

Tennyson, . 

Intermezzo, . 



Pagre 
5 
6 
7 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 
27 
28 
29 
30 
31 
32 



Glory 

Spring Song, 

The Day-Fly, 

Solitude, . 

His Image, . 

The Sunbeam, . 

Wanderer's Night Song, 

Night and Death, 

The Truth-Seeker, 

Goethe's "Haidenroeslein," 

The Smile, . 

Per Lacrimas, . 

Autumn Leaves, . 

Evolution, 

The Greater Loss, 

Harps of the Woods, . 

"Garpe Diem," 

In His Steps, . 

The Death of Petronius, 



Page 
38 
39 
40 
41 
42 
43 
44 
45 
46 
48 
49 
50 
51 
53 
54 
55 
56 
57 
59 



DEDICATION 

The lovely rose lias a spirit, 

A perfume, rich and rare; 
The deep blue sea has a secret, 

A pearl surpassing fair; 
The night itself has its glory, 

The golden stars are there — 
In the soul of my songs, Beloved, 

I find Thee everywhere! 



THE STOIC 

Fall like a hero then, thou can^st not 

soften 
With idle tear the marble brow of 

Fate; 
Thy bark sails on a given path, too late 
Comes pale regret; doubt to the sailor 

often 
Means certain ruin. Drift not, tem- 
pest-tost, 
A straying spar upon indiiferent seas 
To loveless death; ah, ev'ry bliss that 

flees 
Unclaimed on Time's swift wing fore'er 

is lost. 
I smile defiance at Jove's thunderbolt 
Which takes but life from him who 

tasted all, 
That justifies man's breath; this star 

shall fall 
As nobly as it shone ! The heart grows 

cold 
E'en of its love — then to a calming 

tomb 
I glad resign and bow to painless doom. 



A PRAYER 

Thou Great Unknown, of whose un- 
bounded power 
The stars, the earth and the majestic 
sea 

Are lowly symbols, while the humblest 
flower 
Reveals Thy presence and is dear 
to Thee: 

Hear Thou my prayer, behold with 
pitying eye 

This fettered spirit seeking the Most 
High ! 

'Mid life's surrounding discords O 

sustain 
The harmony within ; extinguish not 
The spark divine, and let me not in 

vain 
Dream for my storm-swept soul a 

worthier lot 
Than that of pebbles on oblivion's 

shore — 
Or hush hope's yearning voice for- 

evermore ! 



stir in my heart such thoughts as 
Plato felt 
In luminous hours; wake in my in- 
most soul 

The spirit of the Saint who humbly 
knelt 
At Cedron's brook-side; to a death- 
less goal 

Lead Thou my steps, until this jarring 
strife 

Will touch the glories of a higher life ! 



HUGO^S "ESMEKALDA'' 

Hast longed and loved and lost, 
Sad Heart, what would^st thou more? 

The spar, by the tempest tossed, 
Is drifting at last ashore. 

Art weary of tear and smile. 

Of the wreath of rose and thorn, 

Of the dream that pleases awhile 
And passes as soon as born? 

Like a child in an unknown land 
Dost wonder and worry and weep, 

Till Death with a mother's hand 
Rocks all thy sorrow to sleep. 



DEFIANCE 

Be brave, discordant heart ! 

Aye, tliougli the cup of bitterness over- 
flow, 

And though the frail bark sink in 
waves of woe, 

Be brave, till death us part ! 

I scorn the world^s acclaim ; 

E'en though its envy all-victorious 

seems. 
Yet o'er the ashes of our shattered 

dreams 
Shall rise love's deathless flame ! 

Forgive us, God above! 

Though Heaven itself decree our pas- 
sion's doom. 

Astray on shoreless seas, from womb to 
tomb 

Man has no light but love ! 

Be brave, discordant will! 

Dost at thy daring choice so soon 

repine? 
Nay, though no star above our future 

shine. 
Dear Heart, I love Thee still ! 



10 



LIKE A FLOWER 

Just like a flower, Beloved, 
So pure and fair tliou art; 

Thy tender beauty wakens 
Sad fear within my heart. 

I lay in benediction 

My hand upon thy brow, 

And pray that God may keep thee 
As pure as thou art now. 

— From the German of Heine. 



11 



SYMBOLS 

Billows are rolling 

Across tlie sea, 
But the ocean survives them 

Eternally. 

Cloud-forms may darken 
Heaven's deep blue; 

But storms cannot alter 
The sky's golden hue. 

Autumn leaves falling 
Are doomed to decay, 

But the tree rises stronger 
O'er death-seasoned clay. 

The years claim our offering 

Of tear and smile; 
What shall we rescue? 

A soul worth while ! 



12 



LIKE THE KOSEBUD 

Would, Love, I were tlie rosebud 
Whicli on thy bosom lies ; 

Short is its day, but blissful — 
It buds, and blooms, and — dies. 

Thus could I dream, forgetting 
That we for aye must part, 

And live and love and perish 
So closely to thy heart ! 



13 



EVERYWHEEE 

A pilgrim, worn and weary, bedded low 

'Mid flowers of spring ; 
Anotlier carried over drifts of snow — 

No bird would sing. 

Where shall I find, and when, my little 
tomb. 
In sea or land? 
'Mid falling leaves or while in vernal 
bloom 
The meadows stand? 

Though spring it be or winter, land or 
sea, 

I little care — 
The golden stars of heaven over me 

Shine everywhere. 



14 



THE ADVENT OF SPRmG 

Now balmy breezes gently wake, 
Tbrougb winter's frozen nigM tbey 

break, 
And larks sing o'er tlie meadows; 
How grand the change, bow sweet the 

air! 
Despondent Heart, do not despair, 
Dispel the ling'ring shadows ! 

The world groY^s fairer ev'ry day. 
With trilling birds and blossoms gay 
Will rise a golden morrow ; 
The valley round in verdure clad, 
Despondent Heart, must not be sad. 
Spring comes to heal thy sorrow ! 

— From the German of Uhland. 



15 



ORIENTAL SEREKADE 

The night with thousand golden eyes 
Keeps silent watch o'er Thee; 

A gentle night-wind softly sighs 
Its languid melody. 

Hear'st Thou the music of the stream? 

'T is but love's lullaby. 
Did aught disturb Thy peaceful dream? 

'T was but Thy lover's sigh! 

The flowers exhale their amorous balm ; 

The birds sleep in their nest; 
No palm-leaf stirs and moonlight calm 

Enfolds the earth in rest. 

My heart alone does wildly move 
Mid silence, wide and deep, 

It seeks its rest where Thou, sweet 
Love, 
Where Thou, sweet Love, dost sleep. 



16 



BOUNDLESS 

'Mid suns and stars my life 

A tiny spark; 
A tale of storm and strife, 

Told in the dark. 

"Why then dost dream, my heart, 

Of spheres so high? 
A moth, bound heavenward, 

Alas, must die!" 

"Because the stars must move 

Their orbs around; 
While Time and Space above 

Thought soars unbound !" 



17 



LIFE 

The cradle its entrance, 

Its exit the tomb, 
Tlie brief span between them 

Surrounded by gloom. 

Like ill-prompted actors 
We move o'er the stage. 

Repeating the story 
Of youth and old age. 

The story of struggles, 

Of love and of loss. 
Of laurel-wreaths wilted. 

Of gold turned to dross. 

Of the dawn of the day-dream. 

Of faith losing hold. 
Of hope's star rekindled. 

Of hearts that grew cold. 

We leave to the postlude 
An unfinished play — 

Will Death tell its meaning? 
Alas, who can say ! 



18 



YISIOI^S 

A sweet, young flower 

To grace the garden of my dreams 

Thou cam'st to me. 

Fair as the sun 

That lights the path that aimless 

seems — 
The thought of Thee ! 

A lonely star 

Which through the tear-dimmed vision 

gleams 
Thy memory! 



19 



THE ACOKN 

"Some day," said tlie oak to the acorn, 
"Thou shalt rise as a mighty tree. 

And the birds shall lodge in thy 
branches 
With mirth and melody!" 

But cast to the ground, and buried, 

The acorn timid grew; 
It faintly sighed in the darkness: 

"Will the promise ever come true?" 

Thou, too, my soul ascending 

From a seed to an infinite height, 

While rising from primal darkness. 
Art fearful of the night. 

But the Power which from tiniest 
acorn 

The mighty oak has wrought. 
Can raise the struggling spirit 

To worlds beyond thy thought ! 



20 



TOLSTOY 

The sailors of Ulysses 

Passed treacherous waters o'er; 
Through Scylla and Charybdis, 

Bound for the native shore. 

They closed their ears to the sirens, 
Dreading the magic smile; 

Choosing unbroken silence, 
While nearing the dreaded isle. 

Stern sailor, thou did'st safely 

For Ithaca embark — 
But the ear that heard not the siren, 

Neither did hear the lark. 



21 



EXCELSIOR ! 

My thought has dwelt in dreamland 

Where Shakespere's fancies soar; 
With Plato, 'mid ancient temples, 

It lingered on Hellas' shore; 
With Goethe in rock and flowers 

It searched for ISTature's soul, 
But its wings, untired, are seeking 

A still sublimer goal. 

My heart has loved Desdemona, 

And wept for Magdalene, 
It dreamed with Esmeralda, 

With Gretchen and Fantine; 
But I rise from the twilight-beauty 

To the undimmed sun above, 
Those scattered beams but mirror 

The light of an infinite Love. 

With Moses I died on Mount Nebo ; 

I prayed in Gethsemane ; 
I have felt the wounds uncounted 

Of struggling humanity. 
And the stories of noble failures 

Like stars through the midnight 
gleam, 
And point past worlds of discord 

To one grand goal supreme ! 



22 



THE FADELESS FLOWER. 

The winds are howling, the trees stand 
bare, 

The blasts of autumn touch every- 
where 

The beauties of blossom and leaf; 
And lovely spring with its verdant glee 
Is now but a saddening memory 
Of a season, so beauteous, so brief. 

O give me the land where the spring 

never dies. 
Where voices of joy will not mingle 

with sighs. 
When wildly the autumn wind blows; 
Though heavens be gray or heavens be 

blue. 
Dear Heart, thou art the sunshine true, 
And my love is a fadeless rose! 



23 



SONNENSCHEIN 

Lachst durcli meine Fenstersclieiben, 

Morgensonnenglanz ; 
Willst den Missmut mir vertreiben, 

Fuell das Herze ganz. 

Sei gegruesst zu alien Stunden, 

Holdes StraMenglueck, 
Denn es lieilet Schmerz und Wunden 

Gottes Liebesblick. 



24 



"CEOSSmG THE BAR'' 

Daemm'rung und Abendglut — 
Das Scheidestuendchen schlaegt; 

Und sei mein Schifflein auf der frem- 
den Flut 
Mcht ahnuiigsbang bewegt ! 

Gleichwie der Wogendrang in 
maecht'ger Ruh' 

Zieht seewaerts ohne Schaum, 
So eilt mein BaecMein jenem Meere zu 

Sanft wie ein Traum. 

Daemm'rung und Abendschein— 

Und dann wird Alles still ; 
Und moeg der Abschied schmerzlos 
sein, 

Wenn's Schifflein beimwaerts will. 

Obschon die Flut mich traegt von Zeit 
und Raum 
In's unbekannte Land; 
Darf meinem Lotsen frei in's Auge 
schaun, 
Wenn fern wir sind vom Strand ! 



25 



KESIGNATIOK 

Wlien otlier arms will lovingly em- 
brace Thee, 
I'll stand afar ; 
And gaze upon Thy happiness as 
were it 
Some distant star. 

Ah, for that flower of love which in 
Thy bosom 

Burst into bloom! 
Reserve there also for an idle dreamer 

A humble tomb. 

And when to sadder musing Thou re- 
turnest 
From fleeting joy, 
Remembrance will recall a waning 
image 
Of days gone by. 

Then from the roses which with bridal 
beauty 
Thy brow entwine, 
A withered one select and place it 
gently 
On memory's shrine. 



26 



THE SONG OF LOVE 

The lark sings to tlie blusMng rose 

A cheery roundelay; 
The morning star with rapture glows, 

When heralding the day. 

The waves sing as they shoreward roll 

Of pearls in deepest sea — 
Thus all the voices of my soul 

Are singing, Love, to Thee. 

Aye, when the day-star's light will pale. 
And joy -thrilled larks grow mute. 

When e'en the sea's old songs will fail, 
I'll touch love's deathless lute ! 

For fairer than the new-born day, 

Or treasures of the sea. 
Or perfumed flowers that fade away, 

Dear Heart, Thou art to me ! 



27 



TOO LATE 

In vain, alas, is all thy smiling, 
Thy soulful sighing, all in vain; 

Long dead in me are those emotions 
Which erewhile filled thee with dis- 
dain. 

Too late for me thy love is kindled. 
Within my hearths overshadowing 
gloom. 

Thy burning looks of passion tremble 
Like sunbeams on a weathered tomb. 

Fain I would know where, after dying, 
The soul with all its dreams will go? 
Where is the fire, when once extin- 
guished? 
And where the wind that ceased to 
blow? 

— From the German of Heine. 



28 



WILLIAM Mckinley 

Shorn of Ms glory; on Ms brow en- 
tMoned 
Death^s majesty, the patient martyr 
sleeps ; 
Beloved, admired and envied, now be- 
moaned. 
And 'round his pall a grateful nation 
weeps. 
Thus passed, a meteor, brilliant, ah, 
and brief. 
To lowly dust the people's honored 
chief. 

He rose in grandeur to the noblest 
height. 
Illumining the world, fair as the sun. 
And, toward evening, in a flood of light 
Passed murmuring : "God's will, not 
ours, be done!" 
Night shadows hover o'er the Western 
hill. 
But, ah, his spirit lives and leads us 
still ! 



29 



SHEPHEED'S SABBATH SOKG 

This is the Lord's own day — 
I am alone on verdant fields, 
To sacred mood my spirit yields, 
And silently I pray. 

All Nature lost in prayer ! 

From bush and bough, from flowers 

and trees 
Ascends to heaven a psalm of peace 
Upon the stilly air. 

The world is far away; 

How restful, ah, to worship here. 

For God Himself seems wondrous 

near — 
This is the Lord's own day! 

— From the German of Uhland. 



30 



TENNYSON 

Upon tliy lyre, thou lone and longing 
bard, 
In melodies, like one who cries for 
light, 
I heard an echo of mine own sad heart ; 
Soul touching soul, less dreary 
seemed the night. 

The shadows ceased ; and when Hope's 
morning star 
Arose 'mid silv'ry clouds; then was, 
forsooth. 
Thy song the herald that God's never 
far 
From those who seek in spirit and 
in truth. 



31 



INTERMEZZO 



Fruehling nalit auf sanften Sckwingen, 

Seine Lieder toenen wieder, 
Bis vor Lust die Knospen springen, 
Und sich braeutlich-zart verjiiengen 
Flur und Waldessaum. 

Und im Herzen welch Verlangen ! 

Oft empfunden, oft geschwunden, 
Haelt es wied'rum micli gefangen? 
1st es Hoffen oder Bangen, 

Wag's zu fragen kaum. 

Wie die Blumen sich erschliessen 

Froh der Sonne ; und mit Wonne 
Voeglein rings den Lenz begruessen, 
Sollst auch mir die Stund versuessen, 
Gold'ner Fruehlingstraum ! 



32 



II 

Vom Himmel ein Sternlein 

DurcMeuclitet die Naclit; 
Ein Veilchen am Baclie 

1st drueber erwaclit. 
Dem goldenen Grusse 

ErscMiesst es sicli kaum — 
Da umhuellt eine Wolke 

Den seligen Traum. 



33 



Ill 

MorgenscMeier saiift sich heben 
Vor der Sonne lichtem Scliein, 

Und der suesse Traum wird Leben, 
Bist Du, lioldes Wesen, mein! 

Tausend Voeglein jubelnd singen 
Unterm klaren Himmelszelt, 

Also soil sick mir verjuengen 
Alles Glueck in Deiner Welt! 

Und, wenn naecM'ge Scbatten truebe 
Sinken ueber Berg und Tbal, 

Wird zum Stern mir Deine Liebe, 
Abendstern mit gold'nem Strahl ! 



34 



IV 



Wenn Du mich lieb'st, so wirst Du 
niclit mehr fragen, 
Ist's boes, ist's gut? 
Dann wird in meinem Arm Dir nicht 
versagen 
Zum Trotz der Mut. 

Die oede Welt kann nlmmermelir 
ersetzen 

Was sie missgoennt ; 
Am Liebesf euer will ich mich. ergoetzen, 

So lang es brennt. 

Was sind fuer mich die lichten Him- 
melsauen, 
Getrennt von Dir? 
Doch schrecken koennt mich nicht der 
Hoelle Grauen, 
Waer'st Du bei mir! 



35 



Als icli berauscM am Liebesabgrund 

irrte, 
Mit wildeii Rosen Dir die Stirne zierte, 
Da schaute ich. nicht vorwaerts noch 

zurueek, 
Die Ewigkeit versank irn Augenblick. 

Docb als icb jaehlings stuerzt' von 

steilen Hoehen, 
Um in der Rene Tiefen zu vergehen, 
Da scMen der Wahn aus jener seFgen 

Zeit 
Nur ein Moment in oeder Ewigkeit. 



36 



VI 

Leise sinkt der Abendfriede 

Ueber Wald und Flur, 
Und es labt die Welt, die muede, 

Freundlicb die Natur; 
Endet jeden Tages Leben, 

Freude oder Leid, 
Alles Laermen, Hasten, Streben 

Mit Vergessenbeit. 

Liebe, die icb einst besungen, 

Der icb ganz geboert, 
Traurig ist das Lied verklungen, 

Und das Herz geleert; 
Ringsum scbweigen Tbal und Felder^ 

Icb allein bin wacb ; 
Moecbte ruben wie die Waelder, 

Traeumen mit dem Bacb. 



37 



GLORY 

On tlie battlefield lonely, though side 
by side, 

Two soldiers lay wounded; they suf- 
fered and died; 

Two spirits akin, both intrepid and 
true, 

But one coat was gray and the other 
was blue. 

They both had their dream — but the 

vision has fled, 
The vision for which they had battled 

and bled; 
Now each claims a crown for the 

brother he slew, 
For one coat was gray and the other 

was blue! 



38 



SPRmG SONG 

Softly whispers in my soul 

Music sweet of spring; 
Far and near through wood and wold 

Thrush and linnet sing. 

Little song, take wings and fly 

To yon garden fair; 
If a Eose thou should' st espy, 

Give my love to Her! 

— From the German of Heine. 



39 



THE DAY-FLY 

"Here today and gone tomorrow !" 
Sad refrain of deepest sorrow, 
Little day-fly, why so gay? 
Playfully it seems to say: 
"Gone tomorrow? Here today!" 

Ah, sweet Love, while time is flying 
And the flame of passion dying. 
Clasping Thee on rapture's height, 
I leave naught of fancy's flight, 
Naught but ashes to the night. 



40 



SOLITUDE 

Softly awakes in heaven's blue dream- 
land now 
The evening-star, 
And stillness hovers over bush and 
bough, 
Near and far. 

The golden moon ascends o'er yonder 
knoll 
Love-longingly — 
O for the presence of some kindred 
soul 
To dream with me! 



41 



HIS IMAGE 

A graceful water-lily 

Looks dreamingiy up to the sky, 
The moon to her sends greetings, 

Love-greetings from on high. 

And as she blushing downward 

And tow'rd the stream would look, 

She sees her lonely lover's 
Pale image in the brook. 

— From the German of Heine. 



42 



THE SUNBEAM 

Like two little waves on tlie ocean 
Rise, meet and part again, 

Our lives emerge and mingle 

And vanish, witli pleasure and pain. 

Like two litttle waves on tlie ocean 
Catch a sunbeam, ere they pass; 

Let us love, ere our lonely tomb-stones 
Lie hidden beneath the grass ! 



43 



WANDERER'S NIGHT-SONG 

Gently steals a dream of peace 

O'er the Mil; 
Not a breath stirs in the trees, 

All is still; 
And the linnet's even-song 

Softer grows — 
Troubled Heart, thou too, ere long, 

Shalt repose ! 

— From the German of Goethe, 



44 



NIGHT AND DEATH 

Soft-winged night with soothing slum- 
ber 

Lulls the weary heart to rest, 
And the worry-laden spirit 

Is with sweet oblivion blest. 

Thus life's eve would gently lead us 
To the cradle of the grave ; 

Why then dread the sleep unbroken — 
O my heart, what dost thou crave? 

Is this yearning idle dreaming. 
Or a God-voice, true and clear. 

Like the bird's mysterious yearning, 
Telling of a brighter sphere? 



45 



THE TRUTH-SEEKER 

Here 'niid contending thoughts and 
warring words, 

Here where the masters cross un- 
conqu'ring swords, 
While battling for the light; 

Who will condemn the blind-born, err- 
ing child 

Which vainly struggles to be recon- 
ciled 
To its alloted night? 

Some in thought's barren desert idly 

cry 
For an oasis, doomed at last to die 

'Mid visions of despair; 
Lured by a phantom others fancy 

truth, 
Where a mirage deludes them which, 
forsooth, 
Must soon dissolve in air. 



46 



I murmur not, nor quarrel witli my 

fate; 
Though much seems dark, doubt- 
stricken heart, O wait, 
Truth may be wondrous near; 
Only one question never cease to weigh. 
In whatsoever depth thy fancy stray: 
Hast always been sincere? 

My thought is drifting on a lightless 

sea, 
Death underneath, storm 'round, clouds 

over me. 
No compass and no charts! 
Yet, though the thund'ring waves my 

ship will wreck, 
I'll hail my Pilot from the sinking 

deck : 
He knows my heart of hearts ! 



47 



GOETHE'S "HAIDENROESLEIN'' 

Found a boy a dainty rose 
Blooming 'mong the heather; 

" 'Tis the fairest flower that blows," 

Quoth he, "how so sweet it grows, 
Spite of wind and weather!" 

Dainty, little, wayward rose 
Blooming 'mong the heather! 

"I must own thee," soon he sighed, 
"Rosebud 'mong the heather!" 

"But I'll prick thee," she replied, 

"And thou'lt bleed," but vainly cried, 
She thus doomed to wither. 

Dainty, little, wayward rose 
Blooming 'mong the heather! 

Passing boys have little care, 
Rosebud 'mong the heather; 

Once so pure and sweet and fair, 

Now to crumble is thy share. 
And wert guilty neither ; 

Dainty, little, wayward rose 
Blooming 'mong the heather! 



48 



THE SMILE 

Years afterwards we met again, 
Just two of a festive crowd; 

You searched your memory in vain, 
The guests were chattering loud. 

I also smiled and talked like the rest. 
Why dwell on by-gone years? 

I smiled, but ah, within my breast 
The frozen lake of tears ! 



49 



PER LACRIMAS! 

Blessed are thej that mourn! 

Througli the loved ones beneath the 
sod 
Our souls are upward borne 

Into the presence of God, 

The Power that kindled the spark 
E'en in the lightless womb, 

Will quench it not in the dark, 
Dread silence of the tomb ! 



50 



AUTUMN LEAVES 

Now autumn leaves are falling and the 
winds 
Sing wailing tunes through hills and 
forests bare; 
The lark is still and of the vernal bloom 
No perfumed memory enchants the 
air. 

How lonely stands, deprived of summer 
pride, 
Yon lordly oak; the day-dream of 
its bloom 
Casts mournful shadows o'er the naked 
boughs 
That sigh and fall and hasten to the 
tomb. 

Within my heart lies buried many a 
flower, 
And of those early dreams the joyous 
tale 
Is heard no more ; I see but falling 
leaves 
And creeping death diffused o'er hill 
and dale. 



51 



But as the dying foliage must impart 
New strengtli and vigor to tlie chang- 
ing trees, 

The voices of the past, or high or low, 
Attune my heart to nobler melodies. 



52 



evolutio:n 

LeucMende Nebelgebilde, 

Sterne mid Sonne mid Mond; 
Pflanzen, Quallen und Saurier; 

HoeMen von Wilden bewolint; 
Ordnmig und KecM und Sitte, 

Ein Antlitz gen Himmel gewandt — 
Ihr nennt's Naturentwicklung, 

Ich aber bab^s Gott genannt. 

Wie die Wellen am Strande wacbsen 

Bei des Neumond's ersten Scbein, 
So dringen miendlicbe Fluten 

Der SebiisucM in's Herz hinein; 
Kommen vom ewigen Meere, 

Dess' Ufer kein Mensch je fand — 
Ihr nennt's ^Naturentwicklung, 

Ich aber hab's Gott genannt. 

Ein Soldat, auf dem Posten erfroren, 

Mutterlieb stark wie der Tod, 
Joan D'Arc auf dem Scheiterhaufen, 

Und Jesus in Kreuzesnot ; 
Tausende, blutend am Wege, 

Pflichttreu und unbekannt — 
Ihr nennt's Naturentwicklung, 

Ich aber hab's Gott genannt. 

— Aus dem Englischen. 

53 



THE GEEATER LOSS 

Would Thou had'st died, wMle with 
the glow of passion 
The mystic flame still burned within 
my breast; 
Would I had wept, unsolaced, o^er thy 
ashes, 
And laid, with Thee, love's troubled 
dream to rest. 

Not thus. Thy presence which to high- 
est heaven 
Once raised my thought; the words 
that used to thrill. 
The dream, the love, the rapture — now 
in ruins! 
Within this death-chilled bosom all 
is still. 

Would Thou had'st died, ere dull de- 
spair had written 

With a remorseful pen love's thren- 
ody. 

Or that together with life's fairest 
vision 
This soul of mine had lost its mem- 
ory! 



54 



HARPS OF THE WOODS 

A soft, mysterious melody 

Stirs gently in tlie trees, 
And wings its soulful harmony 

Upon the fleeting breeze. 

Those are the forest harps that stand 

Along the mountain side, 
And o'er their quivering strings the 
wind's 

Ethereal fingers glide. 

Hark in crescendo movement soon 
The woods with music ring. 

The mighty forest seems inspired 
Majestic psalms to sing! 

But with the wind the wild songs die, 
The harps sound soft and low ; 

At eventide their voices sigh 
A mystic tremulo. 

Ah, when I hear those forest-harps, 

I fain would silent be ; 
Our human music vanishes. 

When God wakes harmony. 

— From the German. 

55 



"CARPE DIEM^^ 

Seize tlie day, beyond returning 

It will vanish, into night, 
While unstilled remains the yearning 

In thy bosom for the light. 

Art thou but an aimless wavelet 
Drifting on life's sullen sea? 

Or a steward wise of moments, 
Borrowed from eternity? 

Opportunities are hastening. 

Whence and whither? Who can say? 
But an inborn voice e'er prompts thee : 

"Passing pilgrim, seize the day ! 

Called to life, a matchless spirit, 
Finding duties all thine own — 

To the temple of the Ages 
Aim to add thy little stone !" 



56 



IN HIS STEPS 

Not by the wealth, acquired in petty- 
strife, 
Nor by the laurels of a fame-fed life. 

The world's caress ; 
But by the tears I wiped, the hearts 

I cheered. 
And by the height of soul within me 
reared 
I judge success. 

Would rather wear a wreath of sting- 
ing thorn, 

And mount with Christ, amid the 
rabble's scorn, 
A martyr's throne ; 

Than claim great Nero's blood-be- 
spattered crown, 

Or, like King Kichard, face a spectre's 
frown. 
Cursed and alone. 



57 



Not witli a traitor's bribe in trembling 

hand 
I would approach the undiscovered 
land, 
When all is night; 
But with a will attuned to God's de- 
cree, 
I wish to step from dark Gethsemane 
Forth into light! 



58 



THE DEATH OF PETR0:N^IUS 

{Quo Vadis, Chapt. LXXIII) 

I 

"Sweet Eunice wakes no more; ye men 
of Rome, 
Gaze on this still, white face that 
smiles in death 
As if on wings of love she journeyed 
home, 
When from my lips she drew her 
parting breath. 
Why do I linger still? In vain I check 
Life's troubled stream, so eager to 
return 
Into the tides of universal wreck. 
Where love's scant ashes find a com- 
mon urn. 
No morrow dawns beyond that sound- 
less night. 
Its gloom unbroken, though the 
fairest star 
Has gone before to fill the void with 
light 
And, trailing rays of love, shines 
from afar. 
My soul — the dream, the struggle and 

the jest — 
Drops wingless from its height and 



longs to rest.'' 



59 



II 



"In ruins lies the noble world of 
Greece ! 
Where is Olympus with its joyous 
lore? 
No longer Jason seeks the golden 
fleece ; 
In wood and stream the l^aiads 
dwell no more. 
Instead of ambling nymphs, we must 
behold 
Slaves on whose tortured limbs with 
languid groan 
Eepose the sated beasts; the gods of 
old 
From Nero's vapid eulogies have 
flown. 
Life's shams and shows lie sick'ning on 
my heart, 
My pity to the babes yet to be born ! 
I brave the brink where soul and body 
part 
And leave to Rome my shadow and 
my scorn ! 
What curious news will Hades learn 

from me? 
When Nero sang, the Muses ceased 
to be.' " 



60 



Ill 



"Thine was my heart, thou queen of 
verse and song, 
O Polyhymnia! In thy melodious 
spheres 
All discords vanish and sweet memories 
throng 
The soul with thoughts more tender 
than our tears. 
Let music fill the air ! Its lovely strain 
Shall wing my spirit for its lonely 
flight; 
It eases sorrow, cools the fevered brain 
And makes old Death seem less a 
dawnless night. 
The eye is dimmed; the fair-formed 
Venus fades. 
Bare is the grove where shapely 
JSTaiads danced, 
E'en Homer's heroes move among the 
shades — 
But music to the last keeps life en- 
tranced. 
It now leads thought to Lethe's silent 

stream, 
And makes Life's exit gentle as a 
dream." 

61 



IV 



"Slaves, take this bandage from the 
severed vein ; 
MetMnks, I heard fair Eunice call 
me hence — 
Strange, how this blood may carry joy 
and pain 
Out of its spirit-mould — Ah, tell me, 
whence 
Have flowed the magic currents of the 
soul 
And whither will they hasten, when 
set free? 
I heard a Christian say, a noble goal 
Awaits us yonder — Sleep seems best 
to me. 
Weep not, ye men of Eome! I glad 
resign 
My little place upon this wearied 
earth ; 
Let Nero dance for you ! In song and 
wine 
And in the cult of Venus find your 
mirth — 
I fain would stay, Death's mytery to 

tell— 
'Tis growing dark — and darker — fare 
ye well !" 

62 



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